Friday, August 24, 2012

New story. Expect a post later today (non story, just for fun.) I spent my Friday night at a drag show (SO MUCH FUN! And I have lots of videos and pics ;)) and Saturday and Sunday will be spent at Pride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Parker stormed through the halls of the expensive looking lab, arms swinging by his side with anger. He saw the three scientists up ahead of him, all leaning over the clipboard the one in the middle held. He jogged quickly to catch up the last few feet, stopping just behind them and keeping up with their brisk pace.“Dad, what the hell?” Parker asked. None of the scientists looked up. “Dad!” Parker had to repeat the word three times before his father even glanced up.“Oh, Parker, how are you? How was school?” he asked.“It’s Saturday.” Parker crossed his arms, as the three scientists continued to walk and look at the paper before them carefully.“Oh, that’s good,” he mumbled, obviously not paying attention. Parker rolled his eyes.“I said it’s Saturday,” Parker said, louder. His dad glanced up quickly one more time.“I heard you.” His dad waved a hand dismissing his son.“I said, ‘It’s Saturday!’” Parker nearly shouted the words.“What? I said I heard you!” his dad said confused, and beginning to get angry with his sons tone.“What was Saturday, Dad?” he asked, as they stopped at an elevator. One of the men next to his father pressed the button repeatedly.“Nothing,” he replied, thinking about it for a minute. Parker held up his football jersey. His father’s eyes went wide. “Oh that’s right, I was supposed to go to your practice,” he mumbled.“It was a game, Dad. Our LAST game,” Parker stressed the word ‘last’. “I let you off the hook for all of the other ones, just as long as you made this one and you couldn’t even do that,” Parker said, hurt.“Look, Parker, I’m sorry. But there’s a lot of stuff I need to do around here,” his dad said.“There’s always something to ‘do around here’,” he crossed his arms.“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?” he placated, as he got into the elevator and the doors shut. Parker rolled his eyes as he watched the numbers climb.“Whatever,” he mumbled as he headed down the hall, away from the elevator. He had nothing to do for the next two hours, so instead of going home and hanging around his house until dinner, he decided to wander around the labs. The building was huge, twenty stories tall with three underground. Parker spent a lot of his time wandering. Most of the lab techs knew him, and let him peek in on what they were doing, but sometimes he would just walk through the halls not bothering anyone. The large white empty hallways always provided him a good thinking space.~~~~~~~~~~~~~“Okay, bring out another set,” the scientist said, using the mic that led into the testing room. The small boy, who was chained to the floor, had his hands wrapped around his thin torso protectively. His pale legs were set close together, the heavy chain on his right ankle making a metallic noise as he moved.“Set,” the scientist inside the testing room said, as the last mirror was brought out. The boy was positioned in the front of the room, directly in the middle. Two large mirrors stood in front of him, one to the left and one to the right. Mirrors were placed every few feet, until there were four on each side and one mirror in the middle, spray painted red. He stared up at his reflections silently. The eyes that stared back at him seemed hollow and empty, he didn’t want to do this. As the last scientist moved away from the mirrors, two came from either side of him, in heavy protective gear. He recognized the long menacing looking cattle prod in their hands. They were clicked on and the familiar buzz made his skin crawl. He stared at the red mirror across the room before him, each of the non-painted mirrors leading up to it like a big arrow. He knew he should just do what they wanted him to, and he would do it if he could, but he didn’t know how.“Break the red mirror,” the man in the room behind him said, through the mic. The voice made the boy turn and look at him through the one way mirror. It made him shiver to think that the scientist was watching him. Why couldn’t he understand that he didn’t know how. He turned back to the mirrors, stepping to the side when one of the cattle prod-wielding scientists stepped closer. As he stepped away from one, he got closer to the other. The chains around his ankle clanked together, and he began to panic as he knew what was coming. “Break it!” the man shouted. One of the scientists shocked him, sending the painful spark of electricity through his thin body. He opened his mouth to scream, but as usual nothing came out. He panted as he was shocked again and again. He felt his mind begin to cloud as the pain became too much. The next time he opened his eyes, once the pain had stopped, the room was a mess.All of the mirrors were shattered. Reflective and red-painted glass lined the floor. Two of the mirror frames swung violently from the cords that held them to the ceiling, the others were scattered on the ground. The boy lifted a hand to his head and pulled it away, looking at the blood-covered fingertips from the gash on his head which was likely caused by a flying piece of glass. The men with the cattle prods turned the sticks off, and set them down on a table bolted to the floor and the wall. The boy flinched as he heard the voice from inside the room sigh.“Take him away,” he said, bitterly. He wanted to cry out as the men roughly unchained his ankle, and dragged him away to his room, but his voice would never come.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Parker used his dad’s spare ID card to walk through the inner halls of the research facility, into places where the general public wasn’t allowed. He looked through windows as rooms full of scientists studying plants, animals, earth, and more passed by his sight. As he stepped up to a door he had never gone through, he slid the card. Waiting for the confirming ‘ding’ that would allow him to pass through the metal door, he thought about how it still amazed him that there were parts of the facility he had never explored. When the door buzzed instead, turning on a red light next to the green one, Parker frowned. He was allowed to go anywhere in the facility, why should this be any different? He looked around, seeing the three security cameras in the hall powered off, he opened the ID card pad to reveal a set of numbers. He punched in the eight digit emergency-open code that he had seen his dad use during a power outage, and smiled as the door slid open. He pocketed the ID card and continued through the halls.The halls in this part of the building were empty. He saw no rooms with scientists, or plants, or animals or earth. Every so often he would pass a metal door, much like the one he had to hack into. But, again, like the door before, none of them had windows. He finally got tired of walking and stopped at the next door he saw. He tried his card, and as expected, it didn’t work. He frowned and typed in the emergency-open code again, enjoying the sound of the door unlocking. He stepped in, and saw a plain observation room.It looked like something that you would see in a music studio. A large table sat in front of a few chairs, lights and buttons decorating the surface. The chairs were empty, as was the rest of the room. Parker glanced outside the hallway before sitting down in one of the chairs and spinning it to face the table. He pushed a few buttons, and was rewarded with some beeps but nothing more. He pressed one that had the words ‘Clear Screen’ above it, and the darkened window in front of him cleared to show a large white room. He smiled.“Sweet...” he mumbled to himself, and turned back to the buttons. Before he could do any damage to the room, he heard a door open somewhere in the hall and he froze. He quickly pushed the button again, shading the glass window over. He headed for the door that led to the white observation room, but hesitated. Quickly, he stretched back to the table, and pushed the button labeled ‘Mic’. He fell to the floor once he entered the room, his back against the wall under the glass viewing window. He listened carefully as the two men in the room began to speak.“We’re not making any progress, it’s time to call this off,” the first man said.“Just give me a few more weeks, I swear I can get results out of it,” the second said, his voice higher than the first man’s gruff baritone. Parker’s eyes went wide as he realized it was his dad’s voice.“You’ve had fifteen years!” the first shouted. They got quiet for a moment. His father sighed.“Please, we’re working with him night and day. I can get results, I promise,” he pleaded. “You have a week. Get me something in a week and I’ll consider it,” T=the first said, calming down. “I’ll be back here on Monday, Dr. Bennett. You better hope that you have something, otherwise Project 47 and your career are over.” Parker listened as the door closed. He waited a moment, still wondering what his dad had been arguing with the man about.“Who left this on?” his dad mumbled, and Parker heard a click as he shut the mic off. He felt the vibrations as the door shut and he slowly stood up, he tried to peek through the glass to make sure it was clear, but frowned when he realized it was a one way mirror. He stood all the way up, and hurried into the observation room. He bit his lip.“Project 47...” he mumbled, before heading out of the room. He stepped out and looked at the number on the door. “47-T.” He read the marking on the door out loud. He knew from his time in the lab that ‘T’ meant test room. This was the project’s, whatever it was, test room. Usually the place the projects were kept weren’t far from the test rooms. He moved ahead to the next door, which read 47-M.“Medical room...” he said, realizing he was going the wrong way, he turned around and went back towards the way he had come from. Finally he reached the door he was looking for. “47,” he smiled. He unlocked the door, not even trying the key card this time, and smiled as it opened. The smile was wiped off his face quickly when he saw what ‘Project 47’ was.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Once the guards had left him alone in his room, locked of course, he had time to finally relax. He let tears fall from his green eyes, splashing down onto the white scrubs he had always worn. His blonde hair fell into his eyes, annoying him. He pushed it away and wrapped his skinny arms around his legs. He rested his head on his knees, letting it tilt to the side to stare at the doors. The only thing in the plain white room was the mattress, with a white blanket thrown over it neatly. A white toilet sat in the corner opposite the bed. But that was it. That was the one thing he enjoyed about his glorified torture sessions. He got to see color. He could sometimes see the colored clothing under the scientist’s lab coats, or their brown shoes, or sometimes even a piece of jewelry on the women. Even the red mirror he was forced to focus on for hours made him feel better.He was about to fall asleep in the sitting position he had assumed, when he heard a noise outside the door. He frowned, it was usually hours before they would come for him again. When the door clicked open, his eyes went wide at the person before him.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “What the-...” Parker was at a loss for words at the sight of the boy huddled in the corner on a mattress in front of him. His green eyes stared deep into his brown ones, making his stomach do flip flops under their gaze. There was something about his eyes. They were bright and shiny, but somehow there was nothing behind them. The boy blinked at him. Parker thought boy, but in truth he was probably just as old as Parker. His thin frame and pale skin betrayed him.“Who are you? What are you doing here? Are-...” Parker stopped, almost afraid of the answer. “Are you project 47?” he asked.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~‘Project 47’.That was his name. He didn’t know a lot of things, but he did know that. The person in front of him was tall. He thought that if he stood, he would only come up to his chin. Most of the scientists he saw were short, or maybe he was tall. He supposed he hadn’t met enough people to know which was which.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The young man in front of Parker just stared at him blankly. To Parker, it looked like he was just blankly staring off into space, but in reality his mind was flooded with thoughts. So many, he just couldn’t do anything else but think.“You are, aren’t you?” Parker said, realizing the horrid truth. The facility was testing on people. On a kid, no older than he was. It made his stomach drop. How long had he been here? What were they doing to him? Why didn’t somebody help him? Thoughts flooded his mind, as well. But, out of all of the thoughts, one really stood out. How do I help him?The answer came faster than the question could be asked. Without a word, he reached out and grabbed the boy’s thin wrist. His mouth opened in a silent gasp as he was pulled off the bed. Parker looked out the door, still holding the weak wrist behind him. He glanced at the camera, and saw the red light that would indicate power was still off. He pulled him out into the hallway, leaving the door open behind them. He walked quickly out of that hallway, and began threading his way to the exit. He ducked into doorways and empty rooms to avoid the many scientists that wandered the halls. He was thankful the boy hadn’t said anything.Finally, he shoved the last door open as they stepped outside. Project 47 pulled his wrist from Parker’s hand, as he stared up at the sun. His pale skin was a scary contrast to the bright summer sun around him. He squinted as he looked up at the sky, crows flying overhead. Parker looked up, wondering what he was seeing, but saw nothing. The boys jaw was nearly an inch of the ground, his eyes wide and sparkling as he stared at the bustling New York crowd. As usual in the busy city, no one even noticed the awestruck, emaciated boy clad in white scrubs. “Come on, do you want to get caught?” he frowned, and pulled on his wrist again. The boy followed along, stumbling behind him. His bare feet slapped the sidewalk loudly as he tried to keep pace with Parker.“Climb in,” he instructed, as he sat down in the driver’s seat of his car. That was the nice part about having a dad who was a well-paid scientist, Parker loved his car. As he started the engine, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The boy stood there, staring at the car in awe. “Okay, it’s nice but it’s not that nice,” he mumbled. The boy jumped as he revved the engine. “Jesus, it’s a car. You sit in it, come on!” Parker stressed. The boy continued to stare at the car. Parker reached over and opened the door from the inside, The boy grabbed it, before sitting down inside and looking around. Parker reached over and buckled his seat belt for him, figuring he wouldn’t do it himself. With him buckled up, they took off.~~~~~~~~~~~Parker couldn’t help but glance at him while he drove. He watched with wide eyes as the world passed by outside the car. His hand was pressed up against the window, next to his face.“How long were you there?” Parker asked, the boy turned and looked at him silently. “Cat got your tongue?”Cat got your tongue. The boy had heard this phrase more than anyone should in their life. The guards used to mock him constantly. He looked down at his feet quietly.“Hey, sorry. You’re just not a big talker, got it,” Parker said, feeling guilty for making the other boy feel bad. “They kept you there a long time, though... didn’t they?” he asked, seriously. The boy looked up at him and nodded. “Have...” Parker was terrified of the answer to his next question. “Have you ever... left the lab?” he asked. The boy looked thoughtful for a long second, before nodding slowly.“When?” Parker asked, surprised at his answer. The boy looked confused, he didn’t know how to answer. “Right, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions only. Was it days ago?” he asked. The boy turned his head like a confused puppy. “This is getting us far,” he mumbled, and was silent for a moment. “Did you want to be there?” he asked, turning his head just enough to look at him before putting his eyes back on the road. The boy looked thoughtful again. “Were you happy there?” Parker rephrased his question, the boy still looked thoughtful. For the first time it occurred to Parker that he didn’t know what to compare it to. Finally, the boy shook his head.“You don’t want to go back?” Parker asked, making sure he wasn’t kidnapping. Well, of course he was kidnapping but he just hoped that it was wanted, at least on the kidnapee’s end. Without hesitation, Project 47 shook his head.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~As soon as the car stopped, the boy was out and was looking at the sky again. Parker couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been since he had seen the sky. The sun was beginning to set over the medium sized lake in front of his family’s summer vacation cabin. “Come on,” Parker said, pulling the boy away from a tree he was touching a little too intimately. He pulled him through the dirt, and even that was admired by the boy. When Parker stopped to unlock the door, he couldn’t help but notice the smile that crossed Project 47’s face as he wiggled his toes in the cool, loose dirt of the mountains. “You can stay here while I figure out what we’re going to do with you,” Parker said, shutting the door. “My family used to come up here for vacations but we haven’t been in awhile. You should be safe here.” Parker switched on the light switch. He turned to face the boy and realized he was leaning out the window, still staring up at the sky. He rolled his eyes and smiled. “You really haven’t seen the outside world in awhile, have you?” he asked, not expecting a reply from the awestruck boy. “I don’t have any food... I’ll have to bring you some later. There’s water though,” Parker turned on the faucet and rinsed the dust off some glasses they kept in the cabin. He handed the glass to the boy, who smiled and took it gratefully. “I don’t have any clothes either, I’ll have to buy you some,” Parker mumbled, looking through the empty cupboards and shelves. “Will you be okay here alone? I’ll get some food and clothes and bring it to you early tomorrow morning,” Parker said. The boy hesitated, before nodding.“Okay, good. Just hang out and I’ll see you around six tomorrow,” he said, “The lake is swimmable if you want to go skinny dipping,” he smiled when the boy got a confused look on his face. “Alright, well, bye I guess.” Parker headed for the door. He heard him gasp and felt the soft skin of his hand on Parkers. “What’s wrong?” He asked. The boy looked up at him with frightened eyes. “You don’t want to stay here alone, do you?”Though the boy couldn’t speak, he knew what he wanted. It was like a secret voice called to him in his mind, telling him what the frightened lab experiment wanted. “Okay....” He mumbled. “I’ll stay.” He said. He crawled into bed, as the boy crawled in beside him, huddled under the covers. When he finally fell asleep, Parker took the chance and slipped out from under the blankets, and went home.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Project 47 woke up only an hour after Parker had left, though he didn’t know that. He looked around the dark cabin and frowned, feeling his heart beat quicken as he looked at the empty shack. He folded his arms around himself and winced at the sound of his bare feet slapping the floor of the cabin as he dove under the table. He curled up under the wooden table, and shut his eyes. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t force the dreams of his rescuer away.~~~~~~~~~ Parker opened the door to the cabin and peeked inside, not seeing the boy anywhere.“Hey? You here?” he asked, not knowing where else he would be. It took him a moment to hear the soft snoring in the small cabin. He smiled and looked around to the bed, seeing it still made and untouched. He frowned and looked around more, finally seeing the boy lying under the table passed out. He set the clothes down on the couch, and moved the grocery bags to the kitchen. He cracked a few eggs in a pan and began making them breakfast. He hadn’t eaten before he went shopping for the stolen boy. He wanted to get to him as soon as possible. He knew he must be terrified.“Hope you like bacon...” he whispered, as he began cooking more than half the package. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face when he heard the loud sniffing coming from behind him. He turned to put the plates on the table and saw the boys wide eyes staring at him underneath the chair legs. “Come on,” he smiled, as he reached down to help Project 47 up. The boy hesitated, before taking his hand. Parker pulled his small body up, realizing how light he really was. “I’m not a very good cook. But by the looks of it, I’m sure it’s better than what they’ve been feeding you,” he said, as he looked at the baggy white scrubs that hid his pencil thin body. As Parker looked him over, Project 47 fiddled with the silverware.“You do know how to use a fork, don’t you?” Parker frowned. The boy looked up and blinked, before nodding and shrugging. “Do you have a name?” Parker asked. The boy looked at him for a long time, seemingly confused. “My name is Parker. Did they call you by a name, something other than Project 47?” The boy stared at him for a while before shaking his head ‘no’. “Ok then, you need a name,” Parker said, as they ate. He looked the boy up and down. “What about... Chase. Since they’re going to be doing a lot of that to find you,” he mumbled, getting nervous at the thought of being caught. He nodded. “Chase. I think it fits. What do you think, Chase?” he asked. Chase stared at him before smiling and nodding weakly. He continued to stuff his face with most of the bacon, and three eggs. “You really were hungry, weren’t you?” Parker said, watching as the boy easily kept up with Parker, as they continued to eat. Parker was by no means thin, being a football player he was kind of forced to beef up. Protein was his best friend. But that didn’t mean he was fat, most of it was muscle. As Chase reached across the table for another strip of bacon, Parker frowned.“What is that?” he asked, reaching a hand across the table and touching the large brown and purple mark on Chase’s side. Before he could figure out what happened, he, the table, their breakfast, and almost all of the chairs were across the cabin against the walls. Parker’s head throbbed as blood poured down his face, and his ears began to ring. Chase stood where the table used to be, his hands over his ears as he shook his head, tears pouring down his face as it mixed with blood that began seeping from his eyes.“Chase?” Parker mumbled, his own voice echoing in his head as the room began to spin. He grunted as he attempted to stand up, leaning against the wall heavily. “Chase...” he mumbled, pushing himself off the wall and stumbling towards the small boy who cowered in the middle of the floor. As Parker’s ears finally stopped ringing, and his head began to get ahold of reality again, he could hear the heaving breaths Chase drew in as he sobbed silently. As he reached for Chase, to hold him, he felt the familiar pressure again as he was thrown back at the wall. He groaned as he slid to the floor again. Had Chase done that? He hadn’t even touched him. Chase shook his head harder, as more blood-stained tears gushed from his green eyes. Parker finally couldn’t hold on anymore, and passed out.~~~~~~~~~~~~~When he finally woke up, the sun was high in the sky and was pouring through the open window, which also let in a cool breeze. He blinked several times as he looked around the room, his eyes landing on Chase who had been sitting in a corner. His arms were wrapped around his legs and his right cheek rested on his knees. Parker reached up and touched his head, feeling the dried blood there. It had glued his left eye shut and he stood shakily. He kept a hand on the wall as he moved towards the sink, Chase obviously not moving. He turned on the warm water, and began rinsing the blood from his face and hair. It didn’t take him long to find the gash on the back of his head from hitting the wall, twice. The wound didn’t feel too bad, they just always bled a lot. He used a hand towel that sat on the counter to apply pressure to his head, which began bleeding again. Finally, he turned to Chase.“Are you okay?” he mumbled, seeing the red tears that had dried on Chase’s pale face. He looked up at Parker slowly, eyes filled with sadness. Parker grabbed another rag and soaked it with water. He began walking over to Chase, but stopped when he flinched. He got onto his knees a few feet in front of him. “Just let me wash the blood off your face... please?” he spoke in a soothing tone. Chase swallowed, but didn’t move. Parker inched closer, until the warm wet rag touched Chase’s thin cheek. He gently wiped away the dried blood, being extra careful around his eyes. Finally, when he was clean, Parker took a deep breath.“Did you do that? Did you throw me across the room?” he asked. Chase was silent as usual, just staring at Parker. Parker looked, seeing the ruined breakfast and the wooden table thrown to the corner, only a few feet away from where he had been thrown. “Shit, I guess now I know why they were studying you,” he whispered. “Have you always been able to do this?” he asked. Chase nodded slowly. Suddenly, he lifted a hand and touched Parker’s head, making him turn so that he could see the wound. “I’m okay, Chase. Really,” he said. “It’s okay, I’m not mad at you,” Parker promised. Without warning, he felt the sudden urge to hug the smaller boy. He pulled him tight against his chest. He froze when he felt the familiar presence pushing against him, but this time he wasn’t thrown across the room. After a moment of feeling the slight pressure, it faded away and Chase relaxed. “You can’t control it can you?” he said, when Chase looked surprised. He shook his head, quickly. “Maybe we can fix that,” Parker mumbled. “But first, I need your file. I need to know more about you,” Parker said. “I’ll go back tomorrow, and steal it.” Chase looked confused. “Here, can you write? That would make it easier to communicate,” He said, reached for a notepad and pen that sat on the coffee table. Chase frowned and shook his head. “They never taught you how to write?” Parker asked, he shook his head again. “What about read?” Another head shake. “I knew my dad was a bad guy, but this is just insane,” Parker mumbled. “I promise, Chase. I’ll do everything I can to help you,” He grabbed Chases hand, and smiled when Chase squeezed it back.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Sorry! I was going to post the second new story (No Tomorrow, is the name of it by the way) But I was slacking and my sexy bitch of an editor was a saint and editted this at like midnight her time after being out all day and getting no sleep so golf claps for her everyone! Now a totally unrelated side note (I just have to share because I'm SUPER happy.) Sunday I get to start the long process of starting hormone therapy! Woohoo! You know what I find terrible? It's WAY more expensive to change your name legally than it is to get hormones....Yeah...more than double the cost. It's about $220 bucks for your first month of T (T is $20 but the blood work you need done three times a year or so is about $200 give or take depending on your situation and where you go) For me to change my name legally it's over $500. Soo...yeah that's tooootally gay. Anyways, enjoy the chapter next week will be the new story~~~~~~~~~~~~Shep poked his head out from his hiding spot under the sink, and then ducked again when he realized his parents and the figure that had broken into their house in the middle of the night were only a few feet away.“You will worship, or you will die,” the man said, as he held his mother and father far above the ground, one clawed hand wrapped around each of their throats.“We would rather die before we follow any of your disgusting kind.” His father did his best to spit on the creature that held them off the floor. It growled as his spit landed on its large bulging eyes. “Your prayer is granted.” Shep covered his ears when he heard the two sickening crunches as the figure crushed their necks. He needed to leave, he needed to get away. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he charged out of the cabinet under the sink. The man stood there, before the crumpled heaps of his parents corpses. He stood tall, having to bend his head to keep it from hitting the ceiling. His black skin looked like a rotting bodies, thick and leathery. His arms were too long for his body, falling down past his bent knees. His back was hunched, two large gray wings sprouting from them, a small trail of feathers following him as he moved. He drooled, teeth poking out from his thin lips, covered in blood. “Hello, boy.” He greeted him, in his sickening scratchy voice. Shep looked him up and down, eyes drawn to his bare feet with long claws.“What are you?” Shep asked.“My name’s Michael. I’m an Archangel.”“Shep!” Lex woke him from his nightmare. Shep sat up in his bed, looking around the house adorned with treasures and nicknacks he had taken from his kills. Several feathers were framed on the walls, along with claws and fingers, and even the gray tongue of one of the disgusting creatures. “You alright?” he asked.“I’m fine, Lex. Go back to bed,” he mumbled.“Demons don’t sleep, remember. It’s party all the time for us down in the underworld,” Lex winked, swaying his hips to silent music.“Well we’re not IN the underworld, so go to sleep,” Shep snapped.“Party pooper,” he crossed his arms and sat down. “So Michael killed your parents?” Lex asked. Shep sat up and glared at him. “You talk in your sleep,” he smiled. Shep groaned and pulled the covers over his head.“Go to sleep, Lex.” “It’s noon,” he replied. Shep sat up again, and stared at the clock.“Fuck! Why didn’t you wake me? Our bus leaves in fifteen minutes!” he exclaimed, as he jumped up to get dressed.“I did wake you,” Lex pointed out.“Where’s the key? Where did I put the key?” Shep scrambled as he pulled on a pair of jeans.“This key?” Lex held up the rusted metal key on a chain around his neck.“Yes! Give me that you little-”“Ah ah ah,” Lex waved a finger as he used his claws to scurry up one of the tall walls of the house. “I think I better keep these, just in case.” He used his pointed tail to grab the other keys from Shep’s hand. “Give them back, Lex,” Shep glared.“Oh no no no no, since I have these, you can’t just ditch me. We’re in this together. This is WAY more fun the partying in the underworld.” He smiled, as he crawled along the ceiling.“There’s something wrong with you.” Shep frowned, as he grabbed his coat and pulled it over his swords.“Or something is oh so right?” Lex swayed his hips as he jumped off the ceiling and followed Shep out the door.~~~~~~~~~~~“You know, it’s hard to think we’re these awesome caped crusaders, when we have to travel by bus,” Lex said, leaning up close to some old woman with glasses, and picked something out of his teeth using the reflection in the lenses. Shep watched as he continued to make faces at the poor old woman who couldn’t see him.“Stop that,” Shep snapped, making the old woman turn to look at him, confused. She looked around before shaking her head and returning to her book.“You’re no fun.” Lex laid in the middle of the isle that sat in the center of the bus.“This isn’t supposed to be fun, we have a job to do,” Shep said. The old woman turned and stared at him again.“Work work work.” Lex sighed and turned over on his stomach, looking up at Shep. “Work is for the living,” he mumbled.“I am living!” Shep shouted. Without looking at him, the old woman stood up and moved to the front of the bus.“Bluetooth. It’s definitely on the shopping list,” Lex said, as the woman stepped through his chest.“Besides, I thought Demons were technically alive?” Shep ignored Lex’s comment.“We are. I mean, not really. Kind of....” Lex looked confused. “Yes,” he finally said.“I don’t think that was a yes or no question,” Shep rolled his eyes.“Well I just made it one, damn it.” Lex stood up and sat next to Shep. “The way it works; is when you die, if you’re a sinner of course,” Lex smiled happily and gestured to himself, “you go to hell. If you worship those douchebags,” he pointed up, “you go to Limbo. It’s kind of what like Humans imagine it to be. Just a whole lotta nothingness. But instead of being left in that nothingness, an angel comes, devours your soul, and that’s it. The end,” Lex said.“I know all that. What happens after you arrive in hell?” Shep asked.“I don’t know how it happens for everyone, but for me, I got there and talked to the big man downstairs,” Lex explained. “He asked me a few questions and boom, I sprouted a pair of wings and a tail, among some other things.” He brushed his fingers over his small horns.“You actually spoke to the devil?” Shep asked, not believing him.“Yep,” he nodded. Shep hesitated.“Well, what was it like?” he asked.“He’s a nice guy. Kind of full of himself, but a nice guy. He likes darts,” Lex said, picking a piece of invisible lint off of him.“Darts?” Shep frowned.“Yeah. We played darts, while we were talking,” he shrugged.“Right....” Shep stared at Lex.“I’ve heard it happens different ways for different people, though,” he said, thinking deeply about it.“What questions?” Shep asked.“Huh?” Lex looked up at him, resting his head in Shep’s lap.“What questions did he ask you?” Shep ignored how close Lex was to his crotch.“I don’t know. Just questions. What I did with my life, if I was happy with it, if I was fulfilled,” Lex said.“Were you?” Lex didn’t seem like he needed to think about the question.“No. I told him upfront that I wasn’t ready to die. I hadn’t met someone to share my life with. I hadn’t traveled the world. I hadn’t ridden a skateboard.” He shrugged. Shep frowned. “I always wanted to learn,” he smiled.“Do you think he turned you into a Demon because you weren’t done yet? I mean. Not everyone is a demon right? Otherwise they would be everywhere,” Shep said. Lex sat up.“I... I never thought about that,” he mumbled. “I’ll ask him.”“What? Like you can just walk up to him and talk to him?” Shep frowned.“Yeah. Like I said, he’s not a bad guy. He’s kind of hot actually.” Lex smiled. “You’re sick. He’s the Devil.” Shep glared at Lex.“Yeah but who said the Devil can’t be hot,” Lex shrugged. The bus stopped, and the old lady took off as fast as her weak legs could carry her. “Come on, then.” Lex jumped up and walked down the aisle, leaving the bus. Shep stood up, and followed him. “Nice place,” Lex mumbled sarcastically, looking at the boring farming town.“It’s homey I guess,” Shep replied, and began walking down the dirt road.“Well then, where’s this chest supposed to be?” Lex asked, using his tail to spin the keys, making them klink together in an old rusted metallic noise.“There,” Shep pointed behind Lex. Lex frowned and turned, staring up at a mountain that nearly touched the clouds.“The fuck?” he swore. “Sure, the wings are hot, but they’re not exactly the best mode of transportation.”“I heard somewhere that Demons can’t fly,” Shep laughed.“I can fly!” Lex frowned, crossing his arms.“Prove it. Why don’t you just fly on up there and get the chest? You have the keys after all.” Shep pointed to the keys on Lex’s tail, as the Demon stared up at the mountain with a lump in his throat.“Fine...” he said, hesitantly, “I will.” He let his arms fall from the crossed position. He spread his wings, which in comparison to his body were fairly small. He beat them a few times, looking up at the mountain nervously. “See you at the top.” He turned his nose up, and strained as he headed towards the mountain, only a few feet off the ground. Shep rolled his eyes and laughed as Lex tried to gain more altitude, obviously already tired.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shep’s breath was visible in front of him as he hiked up the long faded path to the top of the mountain. He was freezing, but kept pushing on. The weather in the small farming town had already been a little cool, but as he climbed higher the air took on the frosty bite Shep hated. He hadn’t seen or heard from Lex in a while, and was enjoying the silence. Since he had met him back when he had saved his afterlife, so to speak, he hadn’t gotten a moments peace. Even while he was trying to take a piss, he could always hear Lex’s off key singing or his mumbling to himself. The Demon was definitely a talker.But Shep had to admit that he was attractive. The horns and tails only made him more appealing, the way he would sway his hips and swing his tail from side to side. Shep couldn’t help but wonder what other things he could do with that tail. He shook the thoughts from his head and continued the rough climb. He used his swords to support his weight, as he hoisted himself over a large boulder. He looked up at the steep path ahead and smiled, he was more than halfway there. As he turned the next corner, he saw a thin form sprawled out on a rock before him.“Already got the chest?” Shep joked. Lex lifted his head tiredly and let it fall back again.“Fuck you,” he mumbled.“Get up,” Shep ordered, as he continued on. Lex moaned as he rolled. He rolled too far, and hit the frosty ground hard. He grunted in pain and glared as Shep held back a chuckle. “We’re almost there,” Shep said, as Lex grumbled. He followed a few steps behind Shep, whining the whole way.“Make it sound so easy, don’t you,” Lex grumbled. “Oh, we just find the chest and unlock it and go on our merry way,” he said, in a high pitched mocking voice. “There,” Shep said, ignoring Lex’s whining. He pointed to the chest. It wasn’t quite at the top of the mountain, but at a large flat edge 3/4 of the way up. It stood in the middle of the cliff, on a stone platform. Obviously not hidden from view. Without hesitation, Shep ran towards it. He ran his hands over the smooth metal of the chest. “Open it,” he looked to Lex, who still stood back at the edge.“Say please,” he said, but walked over to the chest anyways. He swung his tail around and grabbed a key. “How do I know which one is which?” he mumbled, looking at the seven keys and seven keyholes.“Which ones fit?” Shep pulled off a few keys and shoved them into a random keyhole. All of them fit into each one. He sighed and fell back.“What now? There’s no way we can get them all right, we’ll be here for hours,” Lex said.“Then we’ll be here for hours. Get started.” They placed all the keys into the chest, and turned them. When nothing happened they were pulled out and another combination was tried. After half an hour, Lex sighed.“This isn’t going to work, Shep. This is stupid.” He sat back on his ass in the dirt. Shep looked at the keys for the thousandth time.“They all look the same,” he mumbled.“No they don’t.” Lex suddenly snatched one of the keys from Shep’s hands. “Look,” he said, pointing to the keys inside the loop of the old fashioned keys, was an initial.“They’re all different,” Shep mumbled.“M, U, C, and R.” Lex frowned, reading the initials of the keys in his hand.“I have G, Z, and J,” Shep said, looking at Lex for help. Lex seemed thoughtful, before he slowly put the keys in, carefully placing them in their spots. He placed the key marked M in the first spot, He put U in the fourth, C right after U, and R he shoved into the second slot last. He took Shep’s without a word and placed them in their own spots, before turning them. The chest clicked open and Lex smiled. Shep frowned, confused.“Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. The highest ranking Archs to the lowest,” Lex explained. Shep smiled.“You’re a lifesaver.” He reached into the chest, and grabbed the single folded piece of paper. He opened the map and scanned the page before frowning.“What?” Lex asked.“This must be old, or a mistake or something,” he said, turning the map around.“What do you mean?” Lex tried to look at the map.“It says there’s supposed to be the first Archangel guarding the map,” he mumbled. “But obviously he’s not-” Shep was cut off, as a golden arrow pierced Lex through the shoulder, sending him flying back into the dirt with a scream.“Motherfuck!” he cursed, as he rolled on the ground in agony. He reached up and grabbed the arrow, only screaming more. Shep stood and shoved the map into his pocket, before drawing his blades. The Angel landed a safe distance away from the twin swords Shep held.It looked different than any other Angel Shep had seen. It’s wings were golden, and its eyes a bright shining blue. It’s skin was pale and glowed brightly in the sun that pierced through the gray clouds above. It didn’t look like the sickly, ugly, gray Angels Shep had grown used to. He knew inside that it was the same. This was probably just another one of its many disguises. “Stupid human,” the Angel sneered, revealing its true self. Gray feathers replaced the golden ones, and it’s eyes faded to a sickly color, along with its skin and hair. It’s open mouth revealed the gray black teeth that were rotting and decaying.“What the fuck!?” Lex still lay on the ground, cursing and tugging at the arrow, making himself spray black blood onto the ground and scream in agony.“Stop that!” Shep said, as Lex bit his bottom lip. “You’ve chosen to put yourself into the company of a Demon as well?” the Angel said, drawing an arrow into his bow again.“I wouldn’t say ‘chosen’ exactly, more like ‘stalked’,” Shep shrugged.“Fuck you,” Lex grumbled, as he stood up. Shep wasn’t really sure if he was talking to him or the Arch.“So, you interrupted me before I could have a good look. You are...” Shep said, waiting for the angel to introduce.“I am Zadkiel. The seventh ranking Archangel,” he said, proudly, as feathers fell from his disgusting wings. Lex scoffed.“You say it like you’re proud. I mean, seventh, really? You couldn’t have done a little bit better than that?” He drew one of the chains that wrapped around his shoulders. The metal fell to the ground loudly, leaving his chest bare. The Angel scowled, and aimed his bow, letting the arrow fly. This time, Lex dodged. Shep took the chance to charge forward, swords in hand. He swung with Solias first, following with Dyrnwyn. He missed both times, and was caught off guard when the Angel, Zadkiel, drew another arrow. He was about to release the once golden, now black, arrow into Shep’s chest, but missed by an inch when the heavy chains belonging to Lex wrapped around the bow, and tugged it down. Zadkiel grunted as the bow was pulled from his hands, and slid across the dirt floor of the platform.“Lex, the bow!” Shep shouted, as he chased after the Angle. Lex ran for the weapon, the Angel beating him by only a second. Without hesitation, Lex lept onto the back of the feathered beast. It roared, a mixture between a cry and a crows caw, as it wrestled with the literal demon on its back. Lex wrapped the heavy chain around its throat, and pulled. It coughed and pulled at the chain links, as its back was soaked with the black blood from Lex’s shoulder which still held the arrow in place. It’s long tail swung angrily, every muscle in it’s body working to kick Lex off as the blood of the Demon began to burn and sizzle as it soaked into the Angels flesh, making it scream. Finally, Lex was shoved off as Zadkiel drew his bow again.“Lex, I never asked, what happens to Demons when they die?” he asked.“Remind me to ask the big man downstairs, next time I get the chance,” he said, worried, as the Angel aimed for his chest this time. Shep shoved him out of the way, landing hard on top of him, avoiding the arrow in his shoulders by centimeters. “Oooh...” Lex purred. “Hello,” he smiled.“Not the time, Lex,” Shep said, as he stood and retrieved Solias from the dirt, where he had dropped it. The Demon groaned as the smoke from Lex’s blood swirled around him, his eyes were partially glazed over as he drew another arrow. “Okay, this needs to stop,” Lex mumbled. “Agreed,” Shep whispered quietly. Without a word, Lex charged the Angel, who turned his aim from Shep to Lex. But before he could fire, the Demon was upon him. During the fall, he had traded out the heavy chain, for the light leather of his whip. As he drew his arm back to strike the dying Zadkiel, the Angel used one long bony arm to smack him away. Shep watched as Lex hit the ground hard, head making a sickening sound as it bounced on the concrete block the chest sat on. The Angel turned to Shep and moved to draw another arrow from the quiver at his side. When his hands grasped open air, he frowned and looked down at the empty leather pouch. He growled, revealing his rotting teeth again.“I don’t need arrows to destroy you.” He smiled wickedly, and used his molting wings to pounce on Shep. As he drew a small dagger from a hidden sheath on his gray leg, Shep reached for the swords he had dropped when the Angel had tackled him to the ground, but they were well out of his reach. “Die, scum,” he smiled, grin wide. He drew the dagger back and prepared to sink it into Sheps chest. Shep shut his eyes and prepared for the sharp pain of the black blade piercing his heart, but when nothing came he opened his eyes. The Angels eyes were wide above him, and he grunted once, before he slouched, falling onto Shep’s chest. Lex stood above him, behind the golden arrow that pierced the Angels thick hide.“That’s for shooting me, bitch,” he mumbled, out of breath and black blood leaking from a wound on his head. The Angel screeched as it decayed into dust. Shep coughed and waved his hands around his face as Lex helped him up.“Gross, I got Angel dust in my mouth.” He spat on the ground. “Come on, Sheppy. I need a shower,” he mumbled, turning towards the path that led down the hill, but collapsed onto his knees after only two or three steps. “Lex, are you okay?” Shep knelt down by him, and held onto his shoulders to keep him from falling anymore. The Demon nodded.“Just... a little... tired...” his red eyes rolled back into his head as he faded into darkness.~~~~~~~~~~~~~Lex woke up an hour later. He blinked hard as he looked around the seedy hotel room. He stretched, and shut his eyes again when he saw Shep was nearby, sewing a hole in his jacket.“What happened?”“You passed out. I carried you back here and got us a hotel room. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to walk down the street carrying something that’s invisible to everyone else without looking crazy,” Shep chuckled.“You carried me down that shitty-ass mountain?” Lex opened his eyes and frowned. Shep shrugged. “Well... thanks,” he said, sitting up. “Oh shit,” he groaned and laid back down, holding his shoulder.“Yeah, you tore yourself up pretty bad pulling that arrow out. I bandaged it up for you, but I’m going to need to change it again soon.” Lex looked down at the black soaked bandage on his shoulder. He also had a bandage on his head. “That one already stopped bleeding, you can probably take it off now,” he said, as Lex felt the cloth around the gash.“Thanks,” Lex said, as he peeled off the bandage, wincing as the tape pulled at his pale skin. Shep couldn’t help but take note that, though his skin was pale, it wasn’t the sickly dying color the Angels were.“Of course...” Shep seemed to hesitate.“Something up big guy?” Lex asked, as he looked through the mini fridge in the hotel room. “Three bucks for a bottle of water? Fuck you guys I’ll just melt some free ice,” he mumbled. “No,” Shep said simply. Lex raised an eyebrow. He sat back down on the bed. “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem all... bad-moody,” Lex said, seriously.“I’m not the one you should be worrying about. You’re the one who got shot,” Shep laughed, though there was a bitter tone under the laughter.“Shep, I’m fine. Demons heal fast tomorrow morning I’ll be as good as new,” Lex waved a hand.“That’s not the point.” Shep suddenly slammed his fist down on the table. Lex jumped. “Alright, Bruce Banner, then what is the point?” Lex asked. Shep sighed.“Thank you,” Shep said, not looking up at Lex.“Thank you?” Lex frowned, confused.“You.. you saved my ass back there, okay? Thanks,” Shep mumbled. Lex smiled.“You’re welcome,” he replied quietly.“I just never had to worry about anyone else before, it was always just me,” Shep said, returning to the stitching on his coat.“Well it’s not just you anymore. You can worry about me and I’ll worry about you.” Lex smiled kindly. Shep looked up at him before smiling weakly. “So, where to next, big man?” Lex stood and leaned over Shep’s shoulder, looking at the map that was spread out on the table. Shep looked up at Lex, watching the smooth curve of his jaw as it turned into the tender skin of his neck.“New York,” Shep said, turning to look down at the map with Lex, who hadn’t even noticed him staring.“New York? No way!” Lex smiled.“Ever been?” Shep asked, as he finished stitching up the hole and cut the thread with his teeth.“Fuck yeah! That’s where I lived, man! Before the tail and all.” Lex laughed and smiled. Shep chuckled, not able to help himself. The Demons constantly perky personality was contagious. “Well, I spent the rest of our cash on two plane tickets. We leave tomorrow morning,” he said. Lex smiled.“Time to celebrate! I’m gonna go get some ice from the ice machine and melt it so we can have water!” He grabbed the small ice bucket on the table, and skipped off through the door.~~~~~~~~~~~~~